Ore-feeder for stamp-mills



2 Sheets-onset 1.

(No Model.)

I. N. TEMPLETON. ORE FEEDER FOR STAMP MILLS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No ModeL) I. N. TEMPLETON.

ORE FEEDER FOR STAMP MILLS.

N0. 258,503. Patented May 23, 1882.

STATES iJ'NrTE ATENT Fries.

GRE-FEEDER FOR STAlVlP=MlLLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,503, dated May 23, 1882.

Application filed March 12, 1881. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Isaac N. TEMPLETON, of Amador, county of Amador, State of California, have invented an Improved Ore-Feeder for Stamp-Wills; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a certain improvement in apparatus for feeding ore to be crushed to the stamps which reduce it; and it consists ofa chute or hopper having an inclined bot tom and adjustable front or gate arranged in connection with a smooth-surfaced cylinder extended across the end of the chute and outside the front thereof, a lever, a tappet upon the stamp-stem, an adjustable connecting-rod, clutch, and pulley, substantially as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

Figure 1 is a front view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the chute and rotating gate. Figs. 4-, 5, and 6 are details. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the feeder.

In the crushing of ore by means of vertically-moving stamps in a battery it is necessary for the most efficient work that the ore should be kept at a certain depth upon the dies, not decreasing, so that the stamps shall fall upon the dies, nor increasing, so that the quantity shall impede the fall of the stamps or their efficient action by its depth. This feeding is best effected by some automatic device so connected with the stamps that it will be actuated by their rise and fall, and regulated by the increasing or diminishing amount of ore beneath them. It has hitherto been effected by means of inclined shaking or rotating tables placed beneath a hopper so as to receive the ore from it and carry it to the battery, or by revolving cylinders beneath thehopper, having pockets which receive a certain amount of ore from the hopper and carry it forward and discharge itinto the battery. These methods are open to some objections, especially when the ore is wet or sticky.

My invention contemplates the employment ofa chute or hopper, A, having a bottom so inclined that ore or other material would flow downward upon it by gravitation, and having a front with a slide, A, by which the flow of the ore maybe regulated, the principal weight of the ore being supported upon the inclined bottom. At the lower end of this chute, and outside of the hopper itself, is mounted a smooth cylinder, B, lying horizontally across the end of the chute andturningupon ashatt, O. This cylinder is so mounted with relation to the inclined bottom of the chute that the latter would, if continued, pass just above the center of the axis, so that the one is checked by the upper part ofthe cylinder, whileits tendency is to move forward and discharge whenever the cylinder is rotated. In order to cause this gate or check to rotate and allow the ore to flow when required, a flanged pulley, D, is secured to one end of its shaft, to be operated by the clutch E. This clutch consists of an arm having slide-pieces a bolted to or formed with it and bent or fitted to clasp the edges of the pulley.

The clutch E is loosely connected with a ver tical rod, F, the upper end of which is attached to a horizontal lever-arm, G. This arm extends to a point near the stamp-stem, by which it is to be operated, so that a tappet or other projection upon the stem will strike the end of the arm at each fall of the stem until the amount of ore within the mortar is sufficient to raise the stamp so high that thearm ceases to act. The tappet, striking the arm G, operates the clutch E, which impinges upon the pulley, giving the latter a partial rotation, which causes the feeding from the hopper or chute of a quantity of ore. Upon the upward stroke of the tappet the arm will be released and the clutch allowed to assume its original position without atfecting the pulley or cylinder, ready to repeat the former operation, when the tappet makes a downward stroke. By means of the screw-sleeve (orother device) H, connecting sections of the rod F together, the action of the clutch can be varied so as to control the feeding action of the cylinder. This is effected byturning the sleeve or nut H, which will lengthen or shorten the rod, and consequently affect the normal position or relation of the clutch to the pulley of the cylinder.

By this mechanism it will be seen that an extremely sensitive feeding apparatus is secured, because the instant the ore in the battery falls below a certain point the lever-arm G will be struck by the tappet, and the clutch is so accurate in its action that it will turn the wheel and cylinder by the smallest possible movements. This is a great advantage over a pawl and ratchet, as the movement of the latter is effected only at prescribed intervals, or when the action of the lever or arm is great enough to move the pawl the distance between two teeth of the ratchet.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the clutch has side pieces, a, capable of adjustment by slots and bolts to permit the application of its jaws a to the rim of the pulley D of the cylinder.

The cylinderB has no wings, scrapers, pockets, indentations, or any attachment or device by which it serves as a feeder,but is intended and acts only as a gate or stop for the ore upon a chute, from which it would naturally flow by gravitation alone. By being placed with one-half its diameter below the plane of the bottom of the chute the pressure of the ore is against its upper half and in a line above the shaft on which it turns. This makes it very easy to turn, and when turned it overcomes the friction on the cylinder and slight cohesion among the ore particles, which prevents the mass from moving when the cylinder is stationary, and thus allows the ore to feed itself to the battery.

I am aware that cylinders having corrugations or depressions to receive ore from a mass within a hopper have been employed to feed furnaces, and that such com partment-cylinders have also been used with a pawl and ratchet to feed ore to a crushing-mill, said cylinders being placed directly within or beneath a hopper, so as to receive a considerable weight of the ore. The objection in such cases lies in the force necessary to separate the ore in the depressions of the cylinder from the superincunlbent mass above and to carry it forward out of the hopper. Moist ore will also stick in the depressions and will not be discharged at all.

In my feeder the weight of the ore is sustained by the inclined bottom of the hopper, and only that portion which passes outbencath the regulating-gate rests against the cylinder. The power needed to turn the cylinder is very small, and there is very little friction or wear. The inclined extension I beneath the cylinder serves to carry down any fine stuff which may pass through between the chute and the cylinder, and apron J in front acts as a scraper to clean the cylinder of wet, sticky, or clayey ore when such is to be fed by the apparatus, and also as a guide to direct the ore into the battery below, where it is to be crushed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The combination, in an ore-feeding device, of the chute or hopper A, having the inclined bottom, and front or gate A, with a smoothsurfaced cylinder, B, which extends across the end of the chute and outside the front A, lever G, the tappet upon the stamp-stem, adjustable connecting-rod 1 clutch E, and pulley D, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ISAAC N. TEMPLETON, 

